State senate sends gun law package to Assembly

A legislative package, placing strict restrictions on gun owners shot through the California state senate Wednesday afternoon, ranging in scope from placing restrictions on ammunition to broadening the number of crimes that could prohibit people from owning firearms.

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By Jack BarnwellSTAFF WRITERjbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Ridgecrest Daily Independent - Ridgecrest, CA

By Jack BarnwellSTAFF WRITERjbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Posted May. 31, 2013 at 4:16 PM
Updated May 31, 2013 at 4:19 PM

By Jack BarnwellSTAFF WRITERjbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Posted May 31, 2013 at 4:16 PM
Updated May 31, 2013 at 4:19 PM

SACRAMENTO — A legislative package, placing strict restrictions on gun owners shot through the California state senate Wednesday afternoon, ranging in scope from placing restrictions on ammunition to broadening the number of crimes that could prohibit people from owning firearms.

Each of the seven bills take steps to tighten regulations on firearm ownership, a move made in the wake of the tragic Dec. 14 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

“These bills attempt to respond to those well-publicized tragedies and many more that go unpublicized,” said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) on the senate floor when advocating for the package.

The seven bills are among hundreds being jammed through the senate and assembly to beat a Friday deadline for sending bills across the floor to the other side of state legislature.

The seven-bill package includes:

n SB 47, by state Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), would ban loopholes used to get around existing laws concerning quick-reload magazines.

n SB 374, by Steinberg, would ban the sale or ownership of a semi-automatic rifle that accepts detachable magazines. Under the law, it would reclassify “a semiautomatic, rimfire or centerfire rifle that does not have a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept no more than 10 rounds as an assault riffle.”

n SB 396, Sen. Loni Hancock (D – Berkeley), bans the ownership of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition and make it a crime for anyone to own a large-capacity magazine.

n SB 683, by Sen. Marty Block (D – San Diego), would “prohibit a person from purchasing or receiving any firearm without a valid firearm safety certificate, and would prohibit any person from selling, delivering, loaning, or transferring any firearm to any person who does not have a valid firearm safety certificate,” according to the bill language. If it survives the Assembly process and the governor’s pen, it would go into effect Jan. 1, 2015.

n SB 755, by Sen. Lois Wolk (D- Davis), expands the number of crimes used to bar gun ownership for 10 years.

All seven senate bills will go through the assembly committee review process. Most of the bills, if they survive the Assembly process and are approved by Gov. Jerry Brown, would go into effect in 2014, unless otherwise stated.

The state assembly faced similar opposition from its own Republican members.

Assembly Bill 500, by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, passed through the Democratic-controlled Assembly, but still needs to be passed by the senate and signed by the governor to go into effect.

Page 2 of 2 - AB 500 bill requires all legal gun owners to maintain their firearms in a secure area when living with a person who is not allowed to own or use a firearm. Additionally, AB 500 would allow a seven-day extension on the required 10-day waiting period if the California Department of Justice requires more time to conduct background checks.

Most of the bills received staunch opposition from state senate Republicans, who have protested the number of gun laws being authored by the state Democratic supermajority.